Rape is unconsentual sex. Whom its done by shouldn't matter. People are not property. Not owned by anyone. A marriage license is a contract between a man and woman to go God. It is not like holding a title to a car nor a deed to a house

Anytime a person is forced into a sexual act that they did not consent to it is rape, does not matter who the perpetrator is or who the victim is. A ring and a piece of paper does not make someone your property that you can do anything to at anytime.

Actually, marital rape is illegal in all of the 50 states, with South Dakota being the first to criminalize it (by removing the spousal exemption clause in the existing laws concerning rape) in 1975 and the last being North Carolina in 1993.

If you mean States as in countries (i.e. U.N. member states), you're still technically incorrect, as 108 of 193 member states have criminalized marital rape so the majority (albeit a slim majority) do recognise that rape can take place between husband and wife.

I'm sorry to have to disagree with you again, but in Missouri, a husband can be convicted for rape within a marriage. Whilst there is no specific crime of marital rape (it is instead prosecuted under ordinary rape legislation, including Section 566.030.1, Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 566, Sexual Offences) the law as it currently stands in Missouri does not allow the accused to assert a marital defence (in other words, you cannot claim it was not rape because you were married). As such, because the law does not allow for a marital exemption to rape, a husband can be prosecuted for rape within marriage.

The only time where a marital defence is allowed is when one of the partners in the marriage is classified as a minor, as marriage does overrule the standard Statutory Rape charge.

So, once again, an offender can be convicted for marital rape, as even states which do not separate marital rape from 'ordinary' rape do not allow for marital exemptions.

Yes, there are currently 112 countries in which Marital Rape is a prosecutable offence, of which number only 32 list it as a specific crime and not a part of their ordinary rape laws.

Furthermore, in many others, rape within a marriage may be prosecuted under ordinary rape laws, though the exact number is unclear as no specific prosecutions have been brought. Also, in India, there is no criminal punishment for marital rape, though the victim can be awarded civil damages. This means that the number of countries where marital rape is still legal is appalingly high.

However, some countries, including Japan (which has never brought a single successful prosecution for marital rape), Poland and Kazhakstan which have declared marital rape as illegal are notoriously poor prosecuting it. South Africa, which declared it illegal in 1996, has only this year seen its first conviction for the crime.

In many countries where it is illegal, it is unfortunately considered a lesser crime. For instance, 33 out of the 50 US states class it as a lesser felony, including Arizona, where marital rape is considered the lowest possible felony.

Whilst great strides have been taken on combating this crime since 1997, where only 17 countries had criminalized marital rape, there is still a lot more that can be done to offer greater protection to the victims and to punish offenders.